TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Led by a pair of All-America performances, the Florida women’s cross country team finished seventh at the NCAA Championships Monday afternoon, the highest finish ever by the women’s program.
Florida’s best previous finish was 11th in 2007. All five Gators finished in the top 90 in the field of 254 runners and their times all rank among the school’s top 10 6K times.
The Gators collected 260 points in their finish. Villanova captured the title with 86 points, with Florida State finishing second with 133 and Washington was third with 188.
“We’ve had a tremendous year,” head cross country coach Todd Morgan said. “We won the SEC and the South Regional championships, and today, we finished top 10 in the country for the first time. We’re definitely leaving here feeling like we didn’t run totally on all cylinders, which is a great thing, because we still finished so well.”
Redshirt sophomore Rebecca Lowe of Australia and junior Charlotte Browning of England finished 15th and 21st individually (14th and 19th team scoring), respectively, to collect Florida’s first All-America honors since 1995. Lowe recorded the best 6K time in Florida history with her 20:18.8 clocking, while Browning was another seven seconds behind with her 20:25.7 time the second best in Florida history. Lowe’s finish was just two spots behind the 1995 finish of Becki Well.
“Phenomenal finishes by Rebecca and Charlotte,” Morgan said. “They brought home the first All-America finishes in over 10 years, which is so great for our program. Both ran at high levels all year for us.”
Senior Stacey Johnson of England placed 74th individually (60th team) in 21:08.1, the fourth-fastest championship time in UF history. She was followed by sophomore Genevieve LaCaze of Australia (96th individual/79th team in 21:16.1) and senior Julie Northrup of Vero Beach (107/88 in 21:21.1). Junior Laura Garrow of Port Orange (152/124 in 21:41.1) and junior Kaitlin Shiver of Satellite Beach was (209/171 in 22:10.9).
“Julie Northrup finished her career on a high note,” Morgan said. “She made such great improvement in her years at Florida and she went out on top. We are all so proud of her.”
The Gators ended one of their strongest seasons to date, winning the SEC title and the NCAA South Region title, while rewriting much the Florida record book. Five Gators took home All-SEC honors while six earned All-South Region accolades. Lowe earned SEC and USTFCCCA South Region Female Athlete of the Year honors and Morgan took home SEC and USTFCCA South Region Women’s Coach of the Year awards.
“I am really proud of these girls,” Morgan said. “We are going to rest up and then get into with the track team. The track program has some big goals as well. Coach (Mike) Holloway and I are really excited about the program and its future.”
NCAA DIVISION I CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Terre Haute, Ind.; host Indiana State University
WOMEN’S 6K
Team: 1. Villanova 86; 2. Florida State 133; 3. Washington 188; 4. Texas Tech 191; 5. Princeton 251; 6. West Virginia 259; 7. Florida 260; 8. Duke 272; 9. Oregon 276; 10. Minnesota 310; 11. Providence 349; 12. Illinois 365; 13. New Mexico 368; 14. Penn State 375; 15. Virginia 391; 16. Stanford 408; 17. Iowa State 446; 18. Syracuse 450; 19. Brigham Young 453; 20. Colorado 458; 21. Georgetown 495; 22. UTEP 500; 23. Notre Dame 519; 24. Arizona State 520; 25. Southern Methodist 581; 26. Michigan State 601; 27. Michigan 637; 28. Baylor 666; 29. Ohio State 673; 30. Arizona 682; 31. Indiana 716.
Top 25 individuals: 1. Angela Bizzarri (Illinois) 19:46.8; 2. Kendra Schaaf (Washington) 19:51.6; 3. Susan Kuijken (Florida State) 19:57.7; 4. Catherine White (Virginia) 19:59.5; 5. Allie McLaughlin (Colorado) 20:01.1; 6. Amanda Marino (Villanova) 20:02.4; 7. Megan Duwell (Minnesota) 20:06.9; 8. Emily Infeld (Georgetown) 20:07.9; 9. Risper Kimaiyo (UTEP) 20:10.9; 10. Cecily Lemmon (Brigham Young) 20:11.9; 11. Janet Jesang (Western Kentucky) 20:13.6; 12. Lisa Koll (Iowa State) 20:15.5; 13. Sheila Reid (Villanova) 20:16.3; 14. Clara Grandt (West Virginia) 20:18.2; 15. Rebecca Lowe (Florida) 20:18.8; 16. Pasca Cheriuyot (Florida State) 20:22.2; 17. Emily Pritt (North Carolina) 20:22.8; 18. Jordan Hasay (Oregon) 20:23.1; 19. Lillian Badaru (Texas Tech) 20:24.2; 20. Liz Costello (Princeton) 20:24.3; 21. Charlotte Browning (Florida) 20:25.7; 22. Bogdana Mimic (Villanova) 20:26.6; 23. Katie Follett (Washington) 20:32.0; 24. Alison Smith (Villanova) 20:33.1; 25. Purity Biwott (Texas Tech) 20:34.1.
Florida runners: 15 (14). Rebecca Lowe (sophomore) 20:18.8; 21 (19). Charlotte Browning (junior) 20:25.7; 74 (60). Stacey Johnson (junior) 21:08.1; 96 (79). Genevieve LaCaze (sophomore) 21:17; 107 (88). Julie Northrup (senior) 21:21.1; 152 (124). Laura Garrow (junior) 21:41.1; 209 (171). Kaitlin Shiver (junior) 22:10.9.
MEN’S 10K
Team champion: Oklahoma State 127. Runner-up: Oregon 143.
Individual champion: Samuel Chelanga (Liberty) 28:41.3. Runner-up: David McNeill (Northern Arizona) 29:06.5.